SAYE

Although it was Saturday, Jiang Cheng still woke up around the same time as usual. When he went downstairs to buy breakfast, he also jogged two laps along the nearby street in passing. 

The number of people around this area in the early morning was far more than at Li Baoguo’s. Besides the middle-aged uncles and aunties, there also wasn’t a lack of youngsters. 

What to eat for breakfast was a very headache-inducing question for him, so with his hands stuffed in his pockets, Jiang Cheng paced back and forth in front of a couple of breakfast stalls, hesitating because of not knowing just what exactly he wanted to eat. 

“Mini steamed buns ba,” someone said from behind him. 

That voice was very close to him – practically coming from right next to his ear. Jiang Cheng jumped in fright, reaching into his pocket for his phone and whipping his head around at the same time. 

Only when he was face-to-face with the person behind him did he realize that the voice belonged to Gu Fei. 

Of course, not only was the voice Gu Fei’s, but the face was also Gu Fei’s. 

“The fuck?” Jiang Cheng was so shocked that he stumbled back a step. He looked him up and down, then fished out his phone to look at the time. “The sun isn’t rising from the west today…”

He tilted his head back to look at the sky: “It must’ve not set yesterday…” 

“Er Miao got up early today, and I got woken up when she started playing around with her skateboard in the house.” Gu Fei laughed, “So I just came over.” 

“Have you eaten yet?” Jiang Cheng also started chuckling. He didn’t know why, but when he saw Gu Fei smile, he also felt the urge to smile. “Let’s eat together?” 

“Are you treating me?” Gu Fei asked. 

“Didn’t you just trick 50 RMB out of me yesterday?” Jiang Cheng glared at him. 

“Fine then,” Gu Fei shrugged. “How about mini steamed buns?” 

“Mini steamed buns, dumplings, tofu pudding, and fried dough sticks.” Jiang Cheng consecutively listed out all the things he had a hard time choosing to eat between. “One serving of each, oh and that braised beef smells pretty good too.” 

“Go get a table.” Gu Fei said. 

Even though this area was also an old suburb, the residential buildings were pretty concentrated, so the amount of people at the breakfast stalls were quite a lot. Jiang Cheng stood to the side and surveyed for a while before he hurriedly took up two empty stools in front of a table; he sat on one and used his backpack to take up another. 

Just when he wanted to signal Gu Fei to where he was, he spotted two girls sitting across the table the moment he lifted his gaze. They kept glancing at him as they giggled, and the moment he looked over, the two of them would swiftly lower their heads back down again. 

“Here.” Jiang Cheng caught sight of Gu Fei who was holding two steamer-full of steamed buns, so he then raised his hand and snapped his fingers. 

Gu Fei walked over and put the things on the table: “I got everything you said you wanted ah. Is there anything else you want to eat?” 

“Nope,” Jiang Cheng replied. 

The two girls across the table still had their heads lowered, giggling as they played a game of ‘if you give me a pinch on my arm, then I’ll give you a pinch on your thigh’. 

Jiang Cheng recalled what Gu Fei had said before and felt that he might have understood what was going on with those two. 

Gu Fei placed a giant heap of plates and steamers on the table, nearly taking up the entire thing. 

“Wang Xu gave me a call.” Gu Fei picked up a mini steamed bun and ate as he talked, “He’s already there, and it’s just him.” 

“Was it to denounce us for being unorganized and undisciplined?” Jiang Cheng grabbed a bowl of tofu pudding and took a gulp. 

“Very dignified,” Gu Fei nodded. 

The two girls had already finished eating, yet they didn’t seem to have the intention to leave. They had taken out their phones and lowered their heads to play on them – again, but judging by their postures, Jiang Cheng suspected that they were using their cameras to peek over at their side. 

Just when he wanted to turn his head away to save himself from being possibly captured in various ugly and deforming angles, Gu Fei raised his head and shot a look at the two girls: “Stop trying to secretly take pictures of us, it’s easy for the faces to become deformed.” 

“Ah!” The two girls briefly shrieked at the tops of their throat. 

“Then can we directly take pictures of you?” One of the girls asked. 

Gu Fei didn’t respond, and the girl raised her camera towards the two of them. Jiang Cheng could only look into the camera lens along with Gu Fei. 

After the girl finished taking the pictures, she grabbed her schoolbag and stuffed her phone in the bag before she said with a smile: “We’re going to post this in Si Zhong’s school forum, so remember to take a look ah. We’ll be posting more at a later date too…”

After the two girls left, Jiang Cheng glanced at Gu Fei: “What class are they from?” 

“No idea,” Gu Fei responded. “They might not even be a part of our school.” 

“Ah?” Jiang Cheng was stupefied. 

“A lot of other schools will be coming to see today’s match ah,” Gu Fei said. “And somebody had spread a video of our game with Class 7 online. That time you blocked the ball, a ton of people learned about it and want to come and watch.” 

“… Fuck.” Jiang Cheng felt a little at a loss. 

“I asked Li Yan to come over today to take some pictures.” Gu Fei continued, “I promised Jiuri that I’ll help find somebody to take pictures for him, remember.” 

“His performance level would probably shoot up the moment he sees the camera.” Jiang Cheng burst into laughter. 

“His performance level will have to shoot up.” Gu Fei turned his head to look at him, “Let’s just say, I’ve only played this one game since I came to Si Zhong. There are many people waiting to watch ne.” 

“En.” Jiang Cheng earnestly nodded his head. He thought for a while before lamenting, “If you didn’t join, would I have had to partner up with Wang Xu?” 

Gu Fei didn’t answer, just doubling up in laughter with a dumpling still held in his chopsticks. 

The game was to begin at 12:00, yet the students from both their school and other schools had already filled the courts at 9:00. Jiang Cheng and the rest could only practice and warm-up for half an hour before they couldn’t continue any longer – there were people everywhere. 

Looking at the people crowded at the sidelines, Jiang Cheng felt that the students around this area were really idle. If he were to talk about his old school, basically nobody would have the time to go watch another school’s basketball game on the weekend. 

This final game of Si Zhong’s was put together pretty formally – they even brought over a bunch of bleachers from who-knows-where. They were placed all around the court, and when Jiang Cheng and the rest came in and seated themselves in the resting area, the bleachers were already filled to the brim with people. Surprisingly, there were even quite a lot of people standing. 

Li Yan arrived at 9:30 with Gu Fei’s camera bag on his shoulders. He sat down in the resting area: “Such an extravagant scene… those who don’t know would think this was the city’s league match ne…” 

“Make sure to do a good job for Wang Xu’s picture,” Gu Fei said. 

“Now that depends on how he plays,” Li Yan retorted as he equipped the lens on the camera. “I’m not you who can make even a cow’s head look ethereal when taking a picture. However he is, that’ll be how I’ll capture him.” 

“And also the other team members,” Gu Fei continued. “Take some pictures of them too. It’s not easy for our class to play till the finals.” 

“Got it.” Li Yan raised the camera and peered at their surroundings through it, “It’s not easy for you to care so much about something either.” 

Before the match even started, Principal Liu was basically at the brink of ecstasy – he even made a brief speech to introduce the teams in the boys’ finals match to the audience. 

One was a winning team that had never once been defeated, and the other team was a dark horse that suddenly came out of nowhere.[1] 

When Jiang Cheng heard Principal Liu’s introduction, he started feeling nervous for some reason, especially since the cheerleading teams on either side were also constantly screaming amidst the speech. 

Yi Jing, who normally appeared very scholarly and even gave people a slightly introverted impression, was incredibly bold as she led the cheerleading squad, actually being able to shout out such embarrassing slogans in a very confident[2] manner. 

“Class 8, Class 8! Dark Horse, stands abreast!”[3] 

“Class 8, Class 8! Handsomeness[4], are the best!” 

The slogan that was shouted made Jiang Cheng not even want to raise his head anymore. With his arms propped on his knees, he started to stare fixedly at his own shoes. 

“Cheng-ge.” Gu Fei called out to him and stretched his hand out below him in a very covert manner. 

Jiang Cheng was in the middle of pondering how they were to play later, so when he saw his hand, he couldn’t respond for a while and just extended his hand out to scratch a few times at the hollow of his palm with his finger. 

“… I’m asking for a high-five,” Gu Fei said. 

“Ah.” Jiang Cheng finally came back to his senses and gave his palm a light slap. 

“Watch out for He Zhou,” Gu Fei warned. “He’s a rearguard, and just like you, he’s pretty versatile and is quick on his feet.” 

“En, don’t always run in a straight line today.” Jiang Cheng nodded. He didn’t arrange any specific tactics that day; going against a team whose cooperation had already been honed to the peak like Class 2, any tactics they might have would ultimately be completely disrupted with Class 8’s level of skill. So on that day, everyone could only rely on the tacit understanding that had been formed over this recent period of time; they would just have to analyze the situation more after playing. 

“Yes, sir.” Gu Fei replied. 

The two captains began choosing the courts; Wang Xu won, and he could still be called fairly bright when he chose the side that had their backs to the light when going on offense. 

“Gu Fei will go jump the ball,” Jiang Cheng said before they went on the court. 

“Jiayou!”[5] Wang Xu yelled. 

“Jiayou!” The rest of the group yelled along with him, took off their jackets, and walked into the courts. 

This sort of feeling was very exhilarating. Although Jiang Cheng didn’t like being watched by a crowd, he wasn’t against putting himself in the limelight. Now that he stood himself in the middle of the court, and even detected the faint clicks of a shutter mixed along with the surrounding shouts of “jiayou”, he suddenly felt an extremely powerful thrill. 

The player who was jumping the ball from Class 2 was around the same height as Gu Fei, but he had found out from the previous game that this person was extremely good at jumping – for that sole reason, nobody in Class 8 could compare to him. 

Sure enough, after the referee threw the ball, the height of this grasshopper’s jump overtook that of Gu Fei’s by almost an entire palm… the ball was passed to He Zhou. 

According to Jiang Cheng’s judgment, this pass could be intercepted by him, but just when he stepped forward and reached out his hands, He Zhou shot forward and slapped the ball to the side the moment he made contact with it. 

And Grasshopper who had left the centerline at who-knows-when had caught the ball. 

Fuck! Jiang Cheng cursed deep in his mind. He exchanged a glance with Gu Fei, and Gu Fei raised his legs and bolted towards the basket with Grasshopper. 

Jiang Cheng didn’t directly follow up but stuck to He Zhou’s side instead; one was to prevent him from catching the ball again, and two was to see for himself just how fast this person could be! 

Class 2’s swift offense was played extremely gorgeously. After just two passes, Grasshopper had taken the ball and swung past Gu Fei and took a jump shot! 

Amidst a mass of shouts, Gu Fei suddenly also jumped up from behind him. Jiang Cheng’s heart thumped. It was far too easy to make a mistake with this sort of posture – if he slipped off even the slightest, he would hit his hand. 

But because he had been blocked by Gu Fei, Grasshopper’s jump this time was only at an average height. 

Amen! 

Jiang Cheng temporarily abandoned He Zhou and darted to Gu Fei’s left. 

Gu Fei jumped incredibly high, and after leaping up from behind Grasshopper, he smoothly[6] swept away the ball that had just left his hands. During a wave of excited screams, Jiang Cheng jumped up and caught the ball. He then yelled: “Wang Xu!” 

Wang Xu was at the midline, and with this yell of his, Wang Xu swiftly turned around and sprinted back. 

Jiang Cheng had dribbled the ball forward by only a few steps when he spotted He Zhou out of the corner of his eye. Thus, he abruptly raised his hands and instead swung the ball in Wang Xu’s direction. 

Work hard, Captain! 

Amen, Amen, Amennn! 

Wang Xu leaped up in the middle of his run, stretched out his hands, and caught a both high and long pass. 

Class 8’s cheerleading team instantly started jumping, and the always rhythmic “Jiayou!!!!” instantly turned into a series of “AAHHHH——” 

Class 2’s return to defense was extremely swift, but Wang Xu had taken advantage of that time. When he reached the basket, it was a one-to-one showdown. If he were to shoot now, the chances of the ball going in would be incredibly high. 

But Wang Xu hesitated at the moment of shooting and turned around to pass the ball to Gu Fei who had just ran past the three-point line. 

It was obvious that Gu Fei had come over to grab a rebound, so when Wang Xu suddenly passed the ball over to him, he didn’t expect it at all – he didn’t even have the chance to adjust his posture of rushing forward. 

He had caught the ball with a backhanded hook, but he didn’t get to have a firm grasp on the ball when he was blocked by a person from Class 2 with a wristband on his arm. 

Following that was a pass, swift offense, and by the time He Zhou made a three-pointer, the people from Class 8 didn’t even get the chance to go near him. 

The first shot incited a roar of applause and shouts from the sidelines.

Guo Xu took the ball and prepared to toss it while Jiang Cheng walked over to Wang Xu’s side: “This match can’t only depend on Gu Fei and I.” 

Wang Xu nodded his head, not speaking a word. It was clear to see that this mistake made him feel like somebody had stabbed a knife[7] into his heart and twisted it, twisting it to the point where the expression on his face contorted clockwise. Jiang Cheng patted him on the back: “That shot just now was one you could’ve made.” 

“En!” Wang Xu shook his head and immediately reverted to his usual state. “I also fucking think so.” 

Guo Xu tossed the ball, and Jiang Cheng caught it, but he turned around without rushing to dribble it forward. Instead, he used his left hand to point to the side and Wang Xu immediately rushed to the midline, preparing to catch the ball. With a wave of his hand, he passed the ball to Gu Fei on the other side, before dashing towards the opponent’s basket. 

At that moment, Wang Xu’s IQ also soared as he played; he didn’t become dumbstruck when Jiang Cheng used him as a red herring when he made that pass, but rather promptly pressed towards the basket. 

Behind Gu Fei was Grasshopper. He didn’t dribble the ball, and instead, turned his body while using his arm to guard the ball as he remained rooted in place. When Lu Xiaobin came over to receive the ball, he passed the ball to Jiang Cheng who was already almost at the three-pointer line. 

Jiang Cheng caught the ball when Wristband came over to block him. He internally sighed. Class 2 being the longtime winners wasn’t something to be taken for granted. This defending speed… even like this, he wasn’t able to shake him off. 

His intention of pressing towards the three-pointer line and making a shot had no chance of happening now. He glanced at the line before clenching his teeth and abruptly making a shot towards the backboard at a spot that was no more than a meter away from the three-pointer line. 

Gu Fei didn’t have anybody blocking him at that moment, which gave him the time to catch the rebound ball. 

But just when Gu Fei rushed over, the ball slammed against the backboard with a deafening noise and beautifully bounced into the net. 

“What the fuck?” Jiang Cheng himself was a little dumbstruck. 

The people on the surrounding bleachers burst into a roar, completely submerging Wang Xu’s shout of ‘Jiang Cheng, you’re too fucking awesome’.

Gu Fei sprinted towards him with the corners of his lips lifting into a smile. He raised his palms at him as he ran over to his side, saying: “Really awesome ah, three-point king.” 

“Let’s do it again.” Jiang Cheng moved towards him and gave him a high-five before giving him a bump on the shoulder along the way, “From the right to the baseline.” 

“En,” Gu Fei sounded in agreement. 

Making a three-point shot from the baseline was a little tricky, but the defense there may not be as tight[8] as opposed to the midline. 

Class 2 wasn’t the same as the teams they had previously played against; the skill levels of the players were very equal, and each one of them was someone that could carry a team when alone. Wanting to steal the ball from their hands was a very difficult feat. 

Jiang Cheng had attempted to steal the ball from He Zhou twice, but He Zhou retaliated with a three-pointer under Grasshopper’s cover. 

“Don’t be anxious!” Lao Lu’s voice traveled over from the breaks between the screams. Probably because this was the final match, he didn’t boldly use a speaker anymore. “Play stably! Class 8, Class 8! Your handsomeness are the best——” 

Jiang Cheng didn’t even want to turn his head in that direction. Out of just two slogans, Lao Lu actually managed to pick out the most shameful one to shout out. 

Class 2’s shot made both the people on and off the court a little excited. Guo Xu’s strength when he passed the ball to Jiang Cheng was astonishing – it was like a cannonball. 

When he turned around, He Zhou was already blocking the route he would make the pass. 

What fast reflexes. 

Jiang Cheng dribbled the ball twice where he stood. He then dashed over to He Zhou until he was right in front of him, and just when He Zhou was about to steal the ball, he leaned over as if he was about to embrace him before hooking his arm to the side, pressing the ball to his calf when he made a pass from behind He Zhou to Gu Fei who was already running towards the opponents’ basket. 

This pass was too low, and Gu Fei almost staggered when he caught the ball. 

Jiang Cheng followed him but kept a close eye on He Zhou. Gu Fei didn’t have a chance to pass the ball back, so he decisively gave the ball to Wang Xu who was running around like crazy. 

Wang Xu’s IQ at this moment was off the charts; just when he caught the ball, he immediately passed the ball back to Gu Fei. 

With this pass, He Zhou had a moment of hesitation, and Jiang Cheng hurriedly broke away from him and rushed to the baseline from the right sideline. 

While he hadn’t stabilized his footing yet, Gu Fei threw the ball over. 

Jiang Cheng’s position was basically a straight line from the backboard! The players from Class 2 hastily rushed back to the three-second zone! 

This was exactly the effect he wanted! 

Jiang Cheng fixed his gaze on the basket, and without a shred of hesitation, he raised his arms and threw the ball. 

The audience’s shouts practically sounded from right behind him, the decibels rising along with the trajectory of the ball until it finally reached its peak when the ball fell into the basket. 

“Good shot!” Jiang Cheng gave a low shout. His arms which were raised into the air slammed down as he cheered for himself, “Fuck!”  

With this back and forth, two three-pointers were made, making everyone’s fighting spirit ignite. 

The current situation on court wasn’t tilting towards one side; Class 2’s skill level and cooperation were much stronger than that of Class 8, but because they have never lost a game before, they would never allow the championship to fall into another’s hands – the players’ pressure was immense. In contrast, Class 8’s players were playing in a considerably more let-loose manner. Whether they win or lose, they were already the dark horse. Thus, they didn’t have any pressure and could just throw open their arms and play. 

Even a taciturn person like Lu Xiaobin was shouting as he was playing as if he was a spirit high on drugs.[9] Jiang Cheng constantly felt like if he wasn’t careful, he may end up swallowing the person next to him. 

Neither classes called for a break, nor did they switch anyone in. Both sides wanted to maintain the rhythm and score some points while the momentum was still good. 

The difference in scores was finally starting to grow bigger, with Class 8’s score steadily falling behind, yet holding on tight as the difference never exceeded more than one or two points. 

With only three minutes remaining in the first half of the game, Gu Fei made a shot while blocked by two people, and managed to turn the tables by one point. 

Amidst the frenzied screams of the audience, Class 2 called for a break. 

When Jiang Cheng walked towards the resting area, He Zhou blocked him: “You should join the school team.” 

“En?” Jiang Cheng froze. 

“You should join the school team,” He Zhou repeated once more. 

A long while passed before Jiang Cheng snapped back to his senses: “No, wait, you’re telling me that at a time like this?” 

“I wanted to tell you this after we finish playing,” He Zhou said. “But I’m a little excited.” 

“… let’s talk about this after the match ba,” Jiang Cheng responded. 

“How about playing another game after the match?” He Zhou asked, “You, me, Gu Fei, Tang Xiwei, and Song Yu a team.” 

“Song Yu?” Jiang Cheng couldn’t recall who Song Yu was. 

“Our class’s center.” He Zhou pointed towards the other side at Grasshopper, “How about it?” 

Jiang Cheng stared at Grasshopper in astonishment. He didn’t know what kind of expectations his parents had to give him such a name, and felt tempted to give Pan Zhi a call to have ‘Pan An’ come over and become sworn brothers with Song Yu[10]… 

“Let’s talk about it after we finish the game,” Jiang Cheng reiterated. “One where we finish seriously.” 

“I’m already very serious… alright then.” He Zhou gave him a pat on the shoulder, “Let’s finish playing first.” 

Jiang Cheng had to clench his teeth and grip his arm in order to not reflexively slap He Zhou’s hand away. 

“What did he say to you?” Gu Fei was squatting at the sidelines and stood up when he saw him run over. 

“He wants me to join the school team and also said to play another game together afterward.” Jiang Cheng explained. 

“That excited huh?” Gu Fei laughed, “But then again, he’s always been like this.” 

“Is he from the school team?” Jiang Cheng asked. 

“En, he’s the captain of the school team.” Gu Fei revealed, “Just like you before.” 

Jiang Cheng glanced at him but didn’t say a word. 

“Stop running together all the time!” Li Yan was holding up the camera, “Keep some distance! When running, don’t always look at yourself and the opponent, look at where your teammates are too! You must let yourselves always be open to catch the ball!” 

“En!” Everyone nodded their heads. 

“If somebody is blocked, it’s enough for one person to go over to receive the ball. Don’t all go crowding over there.” Li Yan pointed at Guo Xu, “You’re just like that. If somebody goes to receive the ball then you should run somewhere and prepare for the next pass.” 

“Okay!” Guo Xu nodded. 

“And you two…” Li Yan stared at Gu Fei and Jiang Cheng, contemplated for a long while, but didn’t know what he could say, “You two just keep acting handsome.” 

“Yan-ge,” Wang Xu looked fixedly at the camera in Li Yan’s hands. “You’ve taken quite a lot of pictures today, right?” 

Li Yan swept a glance at him: “Don’t worry, it’s enough for you to make an album. There’s enough for you to look at three a day for an entire month without similarities.” 

“Even though I’m the captain, you can’t just take pictures of me ah.” Wang Xu said, “Take some of Gu Fei ah, Jiang Cheng ah, and our other players ah…”

“Have all your IQ been thrown into a basketball net?” Li Yan irritatingly cut him off. 

Jiang Cheng laughed as he turned away, just in time to see Yi Jing standing behind Gu Fei, holding a bottle of water. Just when he wanted to call out to Gu Fei to take it, Yi Jing smiled as she passed the water to him: “You take it.” 

“Thank you.” Jiang Cheng received the water, drinking it as he glanced towards Gu Fei’s collarbones. 

He didn’t know if Gu Fei’s injury, after playing a game like this… he caught sight of a small corner of gauze exposed under his shirt collar – on it was blood. 

“Shit.” He frowned, leaned over to pull open Gu Fei’s collar, and looked inside. The amount of blood seeping out wasn’t much, but there was already a small patch, “You…” 

But he didn’t get to finish speaking when a series of screams sounded over from a group of girls to the side. 

Jiang Cheng snapped back to his senses, hurriedly loosened his hand, and took a step back. 

“What happened? What happened?” Wang Xu immediately noticed the ruckus on this side and rushed over to Gu Fei before pulling open his collar, “Holy fu…” 

The girls’ screams instantly escalated, then turned into a fit of giggles. 

“You’re going up now.” Li Yan pulled Wang Xu away. 

Jiang Cheng put down the bottle of water. As he walked towards the court, he felt a bunch of stares boring into his back, so heated that his entire body was drowned in discomfort. 

He truly did have the uncontrollable desire and urge to draw closer, become more intimate, and xx towards Gu Fei, but this sort of situation where any casual movement would result in him being surrounded by screams was still… it made him a little panicked. 

He felt uncomfortable for quite a long time, and he could only thank the heavens they put Wang Xu by his side. 

Thank Wang Xu who had a string missing from his head for saving him from this maddening awkwardness… 

“It’s fine,” Gu Fei said from beside him. 

“Was it torn?” Jiang Cheng asked. 

“Probably,” Gu Fei responded. “I didn’t even feel anything.” 

“… would it have any effect on the brain-ischemic building-jumping?” Jiang Cheng sighed. 

“It would probably have a little effect ba,” Gu Fei replied. “But this matter, if I finish jumping without getting a little hurt, Hou Zi wouldn’t back down either.” 

Jiang Cheng stared at him without saying a word. 

“Cheng-ge,” Gu Fei started jogging towards the midline when he turned back to look at him, and suddenly pointed at the place under Class 2’s basket in a very serious manner, “Fuck them up!” 

“Fuck.” Jiang Cheng couldn’t hold back his laughter, thus he also pointed a finger over there. “Fuck it up!” 

[1] Out of nowhere (横空出世) – Idiom: where (something) come into the world out of blue, specifically something big, extraordinary, etc.

[2] Confident (理直气壮) – Idiom: to speak with confidence because justice is on your side, to be self-confident because you are in the right, to speak forcefully and compellingly, etc.

[3] Stand abreast – 当关 lit trans, ‘guard a pass/gate’ but to make it rhyme I just changed it a bit – Sae

[4] Handsomeness (颜值) attractiveness index (rating of how good-looking sb is) 

[5] Jia you (加油) – Fighting, hwaiting, come on, you can do it!

[6] Smoothly (干脆利落) – Idiom:  to do something smoothly and cleanly, neatly and tidily, or to have something efficiently done.

[7] Stab a knife in his heart (心如刀绞) – Idiom: lit. “feel as if a knife was being twisted in one’s heart” meaning to feel very heartbroken, in grief, devastated, etc.

[8] Tight (严丝合缝) – Idiom: lit. “fit together perfectly/tightly fit together” meaning waterproof, airtight, without loopholes, etc.

[9] spirit high on drugs (嗑了药的门板精) we’re actually not too sure of how to translate this… I’m guessing it’s a door spirit high on drugs?? If someone know, please tell us XD – Sae

[10] Song Yu (宋玉) a Chinese poet from the late Warring States period, and is known as the traditional author of a number of poems in the Verses of Chu (Chu ci 楚辭). Among the Verses of Chu poems usually attributed to Song Yu are those in the Jiu Bian section. Also credited to Song Yu, somewhat improbable, are several fu collected in the 6th century literary anthology Wen Xuan.  || Song Yu and Pan An, what Pan Zhi likes to write as his name, are two of the four handsome men in Chinese history, so yes, they need to be sworn brothers

Extra notes:

**The other three handsome guys beside Song Yu. 

Pan An (潘安)

Pan Yue, also known as Pan An, a famous litterateur in Jin Dynasty, might be the most famous handsome man in China. His reputation spread so widely that people used “look like Pan An (貌若潘安)” as a compliment. The extent of his attractiveness can be derived from a story called “throw fruits into a carriage until it is full (掷果盈车)”.

It was said that every time Pan went out, people would run after his carriage, trying to sneak a peek at him. Apparently, the number of his fanatic fans was so large that not everyone could approach him. So the dedicated, of course mostly women, found a creative way to express their admiration—throwing fresh fruits onto Pan’s carriage. Nobody knows whether Pan was ever hit by the fruit, but every trip outside was a harvest for him.

However, Pan was famous not only for his appearance but also his literary prowess. Equal in popularity with another litterateur, Lu Ji, there was a saying that “Lu’s literary talent is like a sea; Pan’s literary talent is like a river (陆才如海，潘才如江)”.

Wei Jie (卫玠)

Wei Jie, Jin Dynasty, was recognized as a pretty boy at the age of five. His grandfather said that Wei was good-looking in a different way and he was very sorry that he was too old to live until Wei grew up. When Wei was a teenager, he went onto the street in a goat-carriage, people all thought he was a statue made of jade. Even his uncle, General Wang Ji, who was also extremely handsome, said that hanging out with Wei was like “putting a gleaming pearl beside me (珠玉在侧)”.

Needless to say, such a stunning appearance attracted crazy fans too. When Wei traveled from Yuzhang to Jianye, people eager to look at him gathered together and blocked the street. But maybe because beauty is always fragile, people’s craze for Wei led to his tragedy. Since Wei had been weak in health since birth, after being watched for several days, he became sick and died later. People described his death as “Wei Jie was watched to death (看杀卫玠)”. Perhaps it was the most bizarre death one could imagine, but for a pretty handsome guy, it seemed to be a little… romantic.

Prince Lanling (兰陵王)

Gao Changgong, in the North Qi Kingdom of the southern and northern dynasties, the fourth son of Emperor Wenxiang, also known as Prince Lanling (兰陵王), was famous for his diligence, modesty, military talent and, of course, charming looks.

But not everyone was lucky enough to witness his charm. It was said that as a military general his face too pretty to scare enemies, so he had to wear an ugly mask in battles. After a victorious battle, his soldiers composed a song and dance “Prince Lanling in Battle (兰陵王入阵曲)” praising the magnificent Prince. Later, it became an imperial court dance in the Sui Dynasty, and it was even introduced to Japan, where it has been preserved and performed to this day.

However, competence, talent, and reputation led Prince Lanling to his death. When his cousin Gao Wei ascended the throne, Prince Lanling’s existence upset him a lot. After he listened to the “Prince Lanling in Battle”, he said to Prince Lanling, “it is too dangerous for you to get into the enemy’s battle array. In case you lose, you will have no chance to regret it.” Without realizing it was a test, Prince Lanling answered, “I don’t think so, it is for the family business.” This raised the emperor’s suspicions about a possible coup. To protect himself, Prince Lanling often pretended to be sick, stayed away from wars and politics. However, his low profile didn’t save him. Finally, in 573 A.D, the emperor sent him a cup of poisonous wine, Prince Lanling drank it and died in his early 30’s.